Can any of you ladies or gents out there suggest a good sock book for a complete beginner. I have used dpns for fingerless mitts but to date have never attempted socks. Particularly interested in a book which also contains some socks for young children [3-4 yr old] It should also lead me through all the stages of the socks with plenty of clear photos. I did see one online called 'Teach yourself visually to knit socks', any good?

I suggest going to your library and seeing what, if any, sock books they have. Don't forget to see if they can borrow books from other branches to widen your choices. Then you can hold, read, try out the books before you buy to see which ones are most useful for you.

I'd love to know of a good book too! I was at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago and was looking at some of their books but didn't know which one to get, so didn't get any. I'm really tempted to try my hand at knititng socks, but am worried I'll get too confussed with the different steps.

Think you just have to take the plunge! It was making some fingerless gloves on dpns that made me want to have a go at socks. I am going to start with a child's pair, not too many stitches! Think I will probably go with Ann Budd's 'Lets get started knitting socks' to learn by. Hope I can do it as there are some fantastic sock yarns out there plus it is really hard to get socks for kids with any wool content here [U.K]

I would suggest "Sensational Knitted Socks" by Charlene Schurch. This is a wonderful book for beginners: you start with a small "class sock" that takes you through the basics, teaching you to avoid or remedy common trouble areas such as gusset holes and grafting toe stitches. It is also a valuable resource for intermediate sock knitters: with it, you can adjust patterns to fit any size foot with any gauge yarn.
Taken in conjunction with Silver's on-line tutorial mentioned by Mirl56, these are the two most valuable resources for beginning sock knitters!

__________________Knitting is more like tying your shoes than it is like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time.

I own Teach Yourself Visually: Sock Knitting (which I think is the book you are referring to) and I love it. It teaches you how to knit socks with DPNs, one circular (magic loop method, basically), two circulars, and even how to knit socks flat on straights! It has all of the basics and tons of clear pictures.

So far, I have only started one sock using magic loop going cuff down, but I want to learn all of the methods so I can figure out which one I like the most.